With an orgy of anti-Japanese demonstrations prompted by a dispute over some rocky islands in the East China Sea having recently run its course, China is now being forced to contemplate just how out-of-hand the protests became.

One of the worst examples: The case of a 51-year-old Chinese man Li Jianli who, according to the state-run Beijing Youth Daily, was beaten so brutally by an anti-Japanese mob for driving a Japanese car that he’s now partially paralyzed and can barely utter simple words like “thank you” and “hungry.”

One graphic image posted to the newspaper’s website shows a man—presumed to be Mr. Li—on the ground, blood streaming from his head as a distraught woman sitting next to him pleads with the mob.

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Meanwhile, accounts of the vicious attack published on social media sites have prompted soul-searching among Chinese Internet users. Discussion of the incident was the top story on Sina Corp.’s Weibo microblogging service on Friday.

The beating took place on the afternoon of Sept. 15 in the central Chinese city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province. Mr. Li, his wife, one of his son’s and the son’s fiancée, were on their way back from a shopping trip when Mr. Li’s white Toyota Corolla was set upon by an agitated anti-Japanese mob brandishing sticks, bricks and steel implements, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

Mr. Li’s wife urged the demonstrators not to damage the vehicle. “It was wrong of us to buy a Japanese car. We won’t buy one ever again, OK?” she was reported as saying by Beijing Youth Daily.

But the gang beat Mr. Li anyway, striking him on the head with a steel shackle and causing him to lose consciousness. Later, he was rushed to hospital where he was treated for open brain injury and then moved to an intensive care unit. He remained there until he regained consciousness three days later.

Mr. Li can now move the left-hand side of his body but the right side continues to be partially paralyzed.

Although many users of Sina Weibo, which is popular among the urban and well educated, were critical of the anti-Japanese protests from the start, news that protestors severely wounded a compatriot because of the brand of car he was driving appears to have led to even stronger repudiation of the rallies.

“This is so-called patriotism? It’s pure hooliganism,” wrote one microblogger.

Others, meanwhile, expressed concern about how such incidents would reflect on China. “Damaging the life and property of your own people would only bring mocking from Japan and the rest of the world,” warned a Sina Weibo user.

Mr. Li’s niece has been circulating commentary about the horrific attack on Sina Weibo. She declined to be interviewed by The Wall Street Journal saying she did not wish to speak to foreign media.

In its Japanese-language report on the attack, Japan’s Jiji Press news agency also detailed other incidents of violence and intimidation in Xi’an the same day, reporting that other cars were overturned by gangs and a university student was roughed up and called “traitor” just for wearing a Japanese brand of clothing.

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